Job summary
A clinical fellow post at Guy's and St Thomas offers an exciting opportunity to gain experience in a wide range of complex infection cases expected in a large acute and tertiary referral teaching hospital.
This post may also involve acquiring laboratory skills in Microbiology and Virology and applying these to a ward-based consult service on the Guy's, St. Thomas', Royal Brompton or Harefield site, or to looking after infectious diseases in-patients on the St. Thomas' site.
The post is suitable for clinicians experienced in Infectious Diseases / Microbiology / Virology, available to start asap.
The post involves opportunities to contribute to the wide-ranging clinical infection service run at Guy's, St Thomas', The Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals which comprises an inpatient ward, on-site laboratories and specialist services focusing on delivering consults.
As an organisation, we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Main duties of the job
Clinical consultation/microbiology & virology laboratory service:
The clinical and diagnostic services are fully integrated. Most clinical work involves liaison with the diverse clinical specialities in the Trust. This may be via clinical consults or telephone advice.
There is a specialised inpatient ward with facilities to manage HCID cases.
The Dept supports a wide range of specialist services via MDTs. There is a very large ITU service including a regional severe respiratory failure service.
On-call
The on-call commitment is at a 1 in 9 frequency weekday nights (Monday-Friday). If on call, the postholder would also be expected to cover the High Consequence Infectious Diseases (HCID) service, if activated, and after appropriate training.
Teaching responsibilities
On occasion the postholder will be expected to contribute to the teaching of medical students.
Clinical audit
The postholder is expected to lead audit projects through the 'audit cycle'.
Management training
Experience should be gained, under supervision, in planning departmental policies and developing leadership qualities to implement them.
About us
Dr Nicholas Price is the Clinical Director and joint-Director of IPC (DIPC) and Ms Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse, has Executive IPC responsibility. Dr Sam Douthwaite (Infectious Diseases) and Dr Simon Goldenberg (Laboratories) are the medical Service Leads.
IPC staff are led by joint-DIPC, Dr Jon Otter, plus a dedicated ID pharmacy team. Every DoI consultant works in partnership with IPC colleagues.
The Royal Brompton and Harefield (RB&HH) hospitals, which make up the UK's largest postgraduate specialist heart and lung centre, were merged with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS foundation Trust (GSTT) in February 2021.
The Directorate also works closely with 7 Paediatric ID Consultants based at the Evelina London Children's Hospital on the St Thomas' site.
In addition, the DoI hosts one of the national high-level infection units for High Consequence Infectious Diseases-airborne pathogens (HCID-a).
The DoI is fully integrated with, and provides clinical leadership to, the Microbiology and Virology laboratories, which are part of a 15-year Joint Venture (JV) between GSTT, Kings College Hospital and a private sector partner.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. Job Summary
A clinical fellow post at Guys and St Thomas offers an exciting opportunity to gain experience in a wide range of complex infection cases expected in a large acute and tertiary referral teaching hospital.
The post may also involve acquiring laboratory skills in Microbiology and Virology and applying these to a ward-based consult service on the Guys, St. Thomas, Royal Brompton or Harefield site, or to looking after infectious diseases in-patients on the St. Thomas site. It may be possible to tailor the location in discussion with the service lead and local training faculty lead.
2. Liaison with major clinical units
Specimens are received from a wide range of departments including: Intensive Care Unit, HIV & Genitourinary Medicine, Renal Dialysis and Transplantation, Oncology, Haematology, Orthopaedics, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Haematology, cardiac and lung transplantation, specialist respiratory medicine (including cystic fibrosis), Evelina London Childrens Hospital (including the Neonatal Unit), Obstetrics, and Occupational Health. The Department also provides a comprehensive service for local Primary Care Trusts.
3. Direct clinical responsibilities
Clinical consultation/microbiology & virology laboratory service:
The clinical and diagnostic services are fully integrated. Most clinical work involves liaison with the diverse clinical specialities in the Trust. This may be via clinical consults comprising bedside assessment of referred patients or patients with significant microbiological or virological results, or telephone advice.
The Dept supports a wide range of specialist services via MDTs including vascular graft infections, endocarditis, diabetic foot and TB.
There is a specialised inpatient ward with facilities to manage HCID cases and predominantly single room mix for general infection cases.
There is a very large ITU service including a regional severe respiratory failure service.
The trainees work one to one with the infection consultant but are also expected to review referrals on the wards.
4. Clinical service routine
The hours of work will be 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, plus any agreed on-call duties. Work outside these times may be required as necessary professional duties; nevertheless, the hours of work accord to the requirements of the New Deal on Doctors hours, the European Working Time Directive and the New Junior Doctors Contract. It is a condition of employment that the appointee be prepared to work at any site where work relating to the appointment is carried out.
The post holder may be required to undertake other duties in line with the grading of the post as may be required by the head of department. Staff should recognise that job descriptions reflect the core activities of a post at a particular time and that as the Institution and the individual develops there will inevitably be changes in the emphasis and duties of the post. The Trust expects that all staff will recognise this and adopt a flexible approach to work and be willing to participate in training. If changes to a job description become significant the job description should be reviewed formally by the Head of Department and the post holder. At all times staff must conduct themselves and carry out their duties in a manner which supports the Trusts equal opportunities policy and ensures that the working and learning environment provided within the Trust is free from bias or harassment.
The junior doctor accepts that he/she will also perform duties in occasional emergencies in unforeseen circumstances at the request of the appropriate Consultant, in consultation where practicable with his colleagues both junior and senior. It has been arranged between the Professions and the Department of Health that while they will perform such duties, the Secretary of State stresses that additional commitments arising out of this sub-section are exceptional; in particular, the junior should not be required to undertake work of this kind for long periods of time.
5. On-call
The postholder will be on the pay scale commensurate with their grade/experience. Rotations that involve the Guys or St Thomas sites would include an on call commitment at a 1 in 9 frequency weekday nights (Monday-Friday) as first on call for Infection (Microbiology and Virology) advice to the Trust. If on call, the postholder would also be expected to cover the High Consequence Infectious Diseases (HCID) service, if activated, and after appropriate training. This will include being contactable via mobile telephone. The StR on call will be covered at all times by a Consultant Virologist and Consultant Microbiologist from the department. The on-call commitment of this post will be timetabled with other junior medical staff in the Department to accord with the requirements of the New Deal and European Working Time Directive.
This can be discussed further to provide detail on the arrangements which will apply in varying circumstances.
6. Teaching responsibilities
The Departments provide training and teaching for a wide range of professional groups, including postgraduate doctors in training, medical students, nurses, allied health professionals and laboratory staff. On occasion the postholder will be expected to contribute to the teaching of medical students. Especially when they become more senior, they are encouraged to get more involved in postgraduate teaching and teaching of nursing staff and allied health professionals. Attendance at relevant teaching courses run by the Trust is encouraged.
7. Research possibilities
The post holder can be supported to develop R&D skills through participation in ongoing research projects. There are extensive research projects ongoing within the department and a well-resourced research infrastructure. The CIDR has particular interests in the pathogenesis and epidemiology of hospital-associated infection (especially C. difficile and MDR-Gram negative bacteria), S. aureus bacteraemia, and novel diagnostics, as well as an interest in Covid-19.
8. Clinical audit
There is an active clinical audit programme within the Department. The postholder is expected to lead audit projects through the 'audit cycle'. The Trust Clinical Audit Department provides advice and support in all aspects of clinical audit.
9. Management training
Experience should be gained, under supervision, in planning departmental policies and developing leadership qualities to implement them. Post-holders routinely take on responsibilities such as management of the on-call rota and organisation of the Tuesday morning educational Seminars. Once post-holders have achieved a certain seniority, they will be expected to attend meetings such as diagnostic service meetings, Infection Control meetings and senior staff meetings. Attendance at appropriate management meetings and training courses is encouraged towards the end of the training programme.
10. University links
Guys, Kings College & St Thomas School of Medicine (GKT) is a School of Kings College London. GKT is the largest free-standing medical and dental school in the UK with a projected annual intake of approximately 360 medical and 150 dental undergraduate and over 400 full-time and part-time postgraduate students. The GKT Department of Infectious Diseases comprises the Microbiology and Virology staff on the Guys, St Thomas and Denmark Hill campuses and their work is closely integrated with the GSTT Directorate of Infection. Members of the Departments of Infectious Diseases, Immunobiology, Rheumatology, Renal Medicine, Transplantation, the Neuroinflammation group and some members of the current Immunology Department at Denmark Hill, form the Division of Infection, Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases (DIIID).
Person Specification
Qualifications and training
Essential
* MBBS or equivalent
* Full GMC Registration and hold a licence to practise
* Full MRCP (UK) or equivalent
Desirable
* Higher degree (e.g. MSc, PhD or MD)
Clinical Experience:
Essential
* Experience of managing infections in a range of patient groups
* Experience of managing patients on an acute unselected medical take (ST1-2 level CMT or equivalent).
Desirable
* Experience working in clinical Microbiology, Virology or Clinical Infectious Diseases departments
* FRCPath Part 1 or CICE examination
Knowledge and Skills:
Essential
* Ability to work as an effective member of a multidisciplinary team
* Ability to prioritise clinical need
* Ability to work without direct supervision where appropriate
* Proven ability to conduct clinical audit
Desirable
* Experience in clinical guideline development
Research
Essential
* Understanding of the principles and applications of clinical research
Desirable
* Evidence of original research
Teaching:
Essential
* Experience of undergraduate and postgraduate training
Management
Essential
* Evidence of understanding of the role of clinical management
Other
Essential
* Evidence of understanding of and adherence to the principles of Good Medical Practice set out by the General Medical Council
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.
Employer details
Employer name
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Address
St Thomas/Guy's/Brompton/Harefield
Westminster Bridge Road
London
SE1 7EH
Employer's website #J-18808-Ljbffr